The present invention relates to credit/service cards and methods of use of credit/service cards. In particular, the present invention relates to credit/service cards with expanded surface area for the recording and displaying of information.
In today's world credit/service cards are in wide use. It is estimated that a typical American household may have as many as three or four different credit/service cards. Credit/service cards may be used for a variety of purposes including purchasing goods or services without using cash, charging a telephone call at a public telephone, or withdrawing money from, or depositing money into ones bank account.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is depicted a prior art, or conventional, credit/service card 30. The credit/service card may contain on its front surface 32 various data including an account number 34, the holder's name 36, the expiration date 38, one or more reference numbers 40, 42, the name of the issuing company 44, and a logo or indication of the type of card 46. Some of this information may be embossed on the card's face. The credit/service card may also contain a hologram 48 to prevent tampering with or unauthorized duplication of the credit/service card. The back 50 of the credit/service card 30 may contain a variety of other information (including a photograph of the card holder) in any open space available 52. The credit/service card also may have a magnetic strip 54 that contains magnetically recorded information which is able to be read by magnetic card readers, telephones, and/or ATM machines at various locations for verification of credit, account balance/information, validity, or possibly obtaining other information about the user. The back of the credit/service card 38 may also contain a signature strip 56 with the holder's signature. The back surface 50 of the credit/service card may contain various important data 52, for example the account number, rules relating to use of the card, additional logos of the card type, telephone numbers and/or addresses to report loss of the card, telephone numbers and/or addresses for billing inquiries, other telephone numbers needed by the user, and/or instructions for use of the card.
A standard size credit/service card has a length of about 3.375 inches, a width of 2.125 inches and a thickness of approximately 0.030 .+-.10% inches. As can be seen this prior art credit/service card has only two faces or surfaces 32, 50 for the inclusion of information.
Similar credit/service cards are issued by telephone companies for charging telephone calls from remote locations. These cards may include some of the same elements, including the magnetic strip and the information on the front of the card. Additionally, the typical telephone charge card includes information on the back surface of the card for charging telephone calls and dialing information. In some public telephones, the user can slide the card through a slot in the telephone in order to charge calls on his telephone card. This type of telephone is capable of reading the magnetic strip, verifying the caller's credit/service, and charging the caller's account.
Typically, ATM machines use cards of the size and shape described for credit/service cards. These cards are used for snowing a user to withdraw money from, or deposit money into, and/or obtain balance information from her bank account. These cards may also be used to transfer money between accounts. As with the normal credit/service card, there is typically a magnetic strip placed along the back of the ATM card which is read upon placing the A.T.M. card into a bank teller machine. The bank teller machine may withdraw the card into the machine so that the card may totally disappear from the user's view while the transaction is being processed.
Increasingly, credit/service card companies are offering more and more services that can be charged on a single, credit/service card or services that are given complimentary for using the credit/service card. Some of these services may be termed "credit card enhancements" and may include for example, life/travel insurance, automobile servicing, automobile rental insurance, and/or replacement of lost items that are purchased with the credit/service card. Credit/service cards issuers may offer a combination of services to be used with one card such as charging longdistance calls, automobile club membership, and at the same time charging typical items, for example retail store purchases, purchases of services, and restaurant purchases. Combining the functions and benefits of many different cards into a single card may alleviate the need to carry multiple cards.
Also, membership and other types of cards may be combined with conventional credit/service cards and a photograph of the holder may be added for identification purposes. For example, a card may double as a membership card and a credit card, or a telephone card and a credit card, or a store charge card and a credit card, or any combination or all of the above. In order to effectuate these multipurpose cards, more surface area is needed on the card for the printing of information, such as telephone numbers, instructions, photographs, and other items needed to use the offered services. The additional information may include "800" telephone numbers, instructions for or codes needed to use certain services, and other essential data.
One solution to this problem might be to change the size and dimensions of the conventional credit/service card so that more information can be placed on the resultant expanded surface area. This solution may not be advantageous in that there exists hundreds of thousands of magnetic credit/service card readers at point of sale locations which read the magnetic strip by sliding the credit/service card through a slot in the credit/service card reader. Also, other equipment exists for other uses such as ATM machines and public telephones which may require a certain standard size card.
Typically, the merchant takes the card and runs it through a slot in a small machine that reads the magnetic strip, typically on the back surface of the credit/service card. In order to be able to be used in the machine, the credit/service card must be no greater than a predetermined maximum thickness so that it fits through the existing slot. Public telephones may have similar sized slots to read the card. And, as described above, ATM machines may withdraw the whole card into the machine for processing. Furthermore, current wallets and purses are made to hold conventional size credit/service cards. Therefore, it is highly desirable that any new type of credit/service card be able to fit and be read in the existing machines used for scanning and reading magnetic information on these cards.
Because of the increasing number of uses that a single credit/service card may have, a need exists for any improvement in the credit/service card to result in a product the same size as existing credit/service cards so that it may be read by existing machinery and held in existing holders and wallets, and which has the same dimensions as a typical credit/service card.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a credit/service card with qualities that are desirable among credit/service cards generally and that is also able to have more printed, readable, material placed thereon.
It is a further object to provide a credit/service card containing an increased amount of surface readable information and which is still able to be used in the existing credit/service card equipment.